Sanctuary of False Love
by SugarInMyTea
Summary: The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy. Set between Magic's Pawn and Magic's Promise when Vanyel leaves the Tayledras and returns to Valdemar.


Sanctuary of False Love

Closing my eyes, my mental barriers retreated slowly, letting the cool forest air penetrate the chamber of my soul and forcefully embrace the heart of my being. The already dull pulsates of my heart were silenced by the grasp of the forest's aura which molded around me, clinging with a wanton urge to never let go. I was captivated by the feeling as all my worry trickled to the ground, hovering above it before sinking into its cool enclosing arms. As my senses ebbed, the forest sucked me deeper into its hypnotic trance, its skeletonic trees swaying to the music of the wind, releasing their mesmerizing essence, and false words of love. I was lost in the arms of artificial rapture when my pleasureful hallucination of peace was disturbed by a faint whisper. It murmured words of warmth to my soul, making it glow and expand, almost bursting out of its chamber within me, forcing the forest's eerie powers out and protecting me from them. Reality had intervened on my pseudo-peace, pulling me back and shunting the air of forest. Trying not to let my mind brood on the thought, I shook off the strange feeling that I had just been violated, took a step into the soft green grass of the forest floor and stole a long glance at my surroundings.

The familiar dark trees, wet from the light sprinkle of rain that had been on-and-off all day, the crouched viridian plants with their drooping branches, ladened heavily with round white berries, the moss infested grass, damp and squishy beneath my feet... it was my home, my sanctuary. I stepped lightly as I crept towards the edge of the wood, the damp grass folding weakly beneath my feet, leaving imprints of my presence, showing the world I was there. Walking deeper into the wood, my eyes drifted to the sky to its livid ashen clouds, like a strangely dyed garment, looming menacingly overhead. But, soon the eerily beautiful sight slipped from my view as I entered the army of trees which stood at the edge of forest.

Forgetting the sky, my feet found an invisible path from memory and led me to a cluster of lanky trees I had seen many times before. Behind the towering, ivy choked forest guardians was a minuscu­le clearing of luscious, emerald, bell-shaped flowers that held an aroma strangely similar to apples before they're completely ripe. Picking one of the dainty plants, I rose it to my nose and inhaled its sweet fragrance. The essence of sour apple swirled in my nasal cavities and soothed my throat before I removed the petite plant from under my nostrils and tossed it gracefully to the trees.

Reverting my gaze back to the scenery surrounding me, my eyes locked on something that seemed the center of attention. In the heart of the clearing stood a gargantuan ancient bloodless tree. My heart elated at the sight of the mysterious death-filled monument. Its pale unmoving branches, like the fragile bones of an old woman, brittle and riddled with arthritis.

Grinning slightly, I tiptoed through the flowers towards the pallid tree. Gingerly, I laid my fingers on a dry branch, feeling lifelessness beneath my cold fingers. Wetting my dry lips, I grasped the branch firmly and hoisted my self up. The bark scratched against my limbs as I climbed into the tree, clumsily, breaking off a few branches that were hanging-by-the-thread. Finally finding the little nook where I preferred to rest and think, I sat down and settled into the comfortable hollow. Perched in the tree, smiling, my legs gently swayed to the sound of music in my head as I slouched in my little hole, quietly observing the seemingly still world beneath me.

That was when the rain broke free and claimed attack on the earth. As the first drops fell, I permitted them to dribble onto me, soak my skin, and rub their clean scent off on my clothes. The rain started to fall harder and my quiet little world came to life. The trees shook in the wind as it swerved and howled around them, the leaves jittered in the cold and tried to shrink against each other for survival, the little sour-apple flowers shook violently as though being pulled in different directions. I felt my brows come together in confusion. What justified the wind to wreak this much havoc on my once quite harmonic sanctuary?

Wrapping my arms around my body to help keep warm, I sat in the tree just a bit longer to try and find an answer to my question. Concentrating on the growth in the clearing, I failed to notice a small flash of blue-white light that scarcely lit up half of the lividly angry cloud it had been birthed from. The first crack of thunder took me by surprise, causing me to jump as it growled around me and channeled a jolt of electricity through my veins. Giving a violent shiver, I clambered down the tree, possibly breaking more of the dead branches in my haste. Trotting off through the field, the flattened bell flowers becoming the only sign of my existence there, I stalked off from the forest. Once back on the path that led to civilization, I took a quick glance back at my now chaos-riddled forest. Thunder shook the ground once more and I turned my back on the forest, secretly loathing the thunder for disrupting my peaceful sanctuary, a greater crime then my own mind destroying my false tranquility.


End file.
